


Into the Blaze

by TyrannyRat



Category: Firewatch (Video Game), Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Firewatch au, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, OT6, Phone Sex, Voyeurism, Well more like walkie talkie sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 19:12:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11319834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TyrannyRat/pseuds/TyrannyRat
Summary: When Ryan Haywood needs to get out of his small, Georgian town, he takes a job as a fire lookout in Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming.He's expecting a boring, isolating butpeacefulsummer. He's not expecting five coworkers constantly trying to draw him into socializing and prying into the past he's determined to keep buried.Then when the events of almost thirty years ago start to repeat themselves, Ryan begins to suspect that his past isn't as buried as he thought.





	Into the Blaze

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place twenty-eight years after the game.

Ryan had been driving for nineteen hours and didn’t plan on stopping any time soon. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, staring straight ahead at the endless stretch of road and tried not to dwell on the events that led him to this point. Ryan reached over to his console and grabbed his cup of black-eye coffee, bringing it to his lips only to remember he had finished it an hour ago. Night had long since fallen, and his eyes were watering from exhaustion. He considered pulling over to rest, but the same fear that kept him from getting a hotel three hundred miles ago kept him going now. There was a gnawing anxiety in the pit of his stomach that if he stopped, he might turn right back around and drive straight back to Georgia, like a dog with its tail between its legs. Though, maybe it would be more cowardly to keep moving forward, to keep running away. Doubts began to creep up in his mind once more, but he steadfastly pushed them away. He had to do this. He couldn’t stand it back at home anymore. Everyone’s accusing eyes burning holes in him, whispers following him everywhere he went. They were all probably glad to see him go, anyway. Ryan frowned, expression grim, as he pressed down a little harder on the gas pedal.

  


Ryan slung his pack over his shoulder. It contained his clothes, a few novels and camping supplies. It was all he would own for the next three months. He tried to pack light, keeping in mind that food would be provided for him once he arrived, and he would be hiking fifteen miles out to his watch tower. The sun was rising now, peeking over the rocky cliffs and mountains of the surrounding area. It painted the sky a dramatic red and Ryan had to blink away images of blood splashed over the ground. His body protested as he locked up his truck and began his trek into the woods. He knew he needed sleep and he was stiff from driving for twenty-six hours. It wasn’t the ideal condition to hike in, but he pushed on regardless.

  


Ryan was in fairly good shape. It was one of the requirements of the summer job he had taken. Yet, he wasn’t prepared for a fifteen mile hike in rough terrain. By nightfall, he had only made it seven miles in, and was forced to stop for the night. Every part of him felt like it was on the verge of breaking. He was hot, sweaty, and sleep deprived. He didn’t even have the energy to set up a tent. He just laid out his sleeping bag on a large, flat rock and fell swiftly to sleep. Pushing his body this far had one benefit. For the first time in almost a year, he slept through the night, without nightmares to wake him. Early the next morning, he had a breakfast of instant coffee and packed up to continue his hike.

  


The sun had slipped beneath the horizon once more when he finally pushed his way through some brush and laid eyes on his lookout tower. He winced at the sight of all the stairs he would have to climb and with a weary sigh, dragged himself up them. He unlocked the door with the key he had been given a week ago, and pushed his way through the creaky, wooden door. After tossing his pack on the floor near the entrance, he attempted to turn on the light, but the switch didn’t work. It was then he noticed the blinking red light above a button on the wall, and remembered being told he would have to turn on the generator. He pressed the button and the tower lit up. Ryan shielded his eyes against the sudden light and nearly jumped out of his skin when the sound of static hit his ears followed by a male’s voice. “Two Forks, this is Thorofare tower, come in.” Ryan dropped his arm and looked around a bit confused. “Two Forks, pick up, dickhead.” Ryan felt that was rather uncalled for. The voice was coming from a two-way radio sitting on a desk across the room. He went over to it and picked up. He pressed down the button on the side of the radio.

“Hello? Who’s this?” His voice conveyed all of the exhaustion he was feeling. It was a few moments before there was a response.

“Woah, you sound almost exactly like Jack.” Ryan had no idea what this man was talking about, and he wasn’t in the mood to solve any mysteries. He looked over at his bed, desperately wishing he was inside it and not having this conversation.

“I don’t know who that is,” Ryan said flatly.

“He’s the lookout at Moss Peak. Anyway, to answer your question from before, I’m your boss, Geoff Ramsey. And you must be Ryan Haywood?” Ryan grunted in response before he remembered that, one, that wasn’t very professional, and two, he wasn’t even holding the button down on his radio.

“That’s me.”

“So, what’s wrong with you, Ryan?” Ryan felt a mixture of confusion and indignation.

“Excuse me?” He was definitely not in the mood for this.

“People don’t take this job unless they’re running from something. What are you running from, Ryan?” Ryan’s heart slammed in his chest. The last thing he wanted was his boss, or really, anyone else to know all about that. He hadn’t expected this to come up so soon, if at all. The whole purpose of coming out here was that no one would _know._

“Well, what’re you running from, then?” Ryan shot back, fear making him snap.

“Alcoholism and a lifetime of poor decisions. Your turn.” Ryan swallowed thickly before deciding that he _definitely_ didn’t need to answer Geoff, boss or not, and besides, Geoff’s response had been a cop out anyway.

“Listen, Mr. Ramsey,” Ryan started, deciding to at least make an attempt at being polite, “I’ve had a long day and I just kind of want to sleep. So, goodnight.” With that, Ryan put his radio back on its charger and climbed into bed.

“Call me Geoff. And goodnight, princess.” Ryan pulled his sheets over his head and groaned. What exactly had he gotten himself into?

  


****

##  **⤞Day 1⤝**

  
Ryan was stiff and sore the next day. He debated burrowing further under his blankets and forgetting his existence for a few more hours, but he had been hired to do a job, so he reluctantly pulled himself out of bed. It was shockingly cool for summer weather, probably about eighty degrees. Ryan was used to the oppressive Georgian heat. The sun hung low in the sky but Ryan didn’t know if it was rising or setting. “Ryan, you there?” Geoff’s voice crackled over the radio. Ryan heaved a sigh and picked up.

“Yeah.” He peered out of one of his tower windows. The tower had windows wrapping entirely around the walls. He felt a little exposed, but he supposed there wasn’t anyone who could actually see him out here.

“I see you finally pulled yourself out of your bed.” Well, scratch that, then.

“You _see?”_ Ryan glanced nervously around him, as if he might see Geoff in the corner of his room.

“Yeah, I have a nice view of your tower from where I’m stationed.” Ryan swallowed thickly. This was unsettling news. “You can see me, too. You should have a spyglass around there. It’s supposed to help you see fires, but we mostly use them to spy on each other. But before you check me out, we have a few things to go over.” Ryan tried to shake the sudden creeping feeling of being watched and focus on the job. “So, first thing’s first, the fire finder. You see that round table with a map on it in the middle of your room?” Ryan walked over to the map table in question. Geoff began explaining how to use it. It was a little confusing at first, but Geoff assured him he’d get the hang of it. He then launched into an explanation of the radio. Each lookout had their own frequency, and if he pressed the green button on his radio, it would put him on what Geoff described as the “group chat channel,” which was a frequency everyone could both hear and speak on.

“So we’re two of six lookouts in this area. I’ve already told you Jack is at Moss Peak tower. Michael is in Spruce. Those two together with me are your three closest towers, but only Spruce and Moss Peak towers are accessible from your location. Michael’s by the Thorofare basin, and Jack’s on the other side of Jonesy lake. Then you have Gavin in Chimney Rock, and finally Ray out in,” here Geoff paused for a moment before continuing, “Bullsnake.” Ryan could practically hear the shiver in his voice. Before he could even think about asking what was wrong, a tremendous bang made him jump out of his skin. “Son of _whore!”_ Geoff cursed. Ryan’s heart jumped in his throat. Had that been gunfire? Another bang had Ryan spinning around, looking for the source of the noise. He saw bright sparks fading in the sky. He brought the radio to his mouth.

“Fireworks? Who sets off fireworks before the sun is even down?”

“Never mind about that. Those assholes are going to start a fire. Ryan, you have to go down there and stop them.” Ryan was definitely not okay with that idea. Who knew who these people were? He wasn’t really willing to put himself in a situation where he might be attacked. Not after what happened last time.

“Why me?” Another firecracker went off, echoing loudly in the surrounding area.

“Because it’s in your sector.” Ryan bit his lip, watching another firework launch into the sky.

“This wasn’t in the job description…” he said, attempting one last protest.

“Well, then it is now. There aren’t any rangers in the area, so stop being chickenshit and get your candyass down there and put them straight.” Ryan sighed heavily, resigning himself to the task. He didn’t know how far out they were, so he grabbed a spare bag and tossed in a few granola bars and bottles of water. He almost wished he had a weapon, but that honestly wouldn’t make him feel any better at this point.

“Put them straight how exactly?” Ryan asked as he descended the steps of his tower.

“Just confiscate their fireworks.” Ryan mumbled some affirmative answer into his radio and began heading in the direction of the fireworks. “Oh, and Ryan?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t get yourself shot.” There was something mischievous in Geoff’s voice and Ryan knew he was probably teasing but it was a possibility Ryan was worried about already. He didn’t respond, instead focusing on the task at hand. “By the way, you’re probably going to have to go down some long drops while you’re walking the paths around here. There are setups for rappelling out there, but you’ll have to pick up some rope. On your way, you should see a big, yellow box. It’ll be padlocked. The code is one-two-three-four. That’s the code for all the supply drop offs and caches.”

“How secure,” Ryan said dryly.

“Shut up. It doesn’t need to be. We don’t exactly get hikers trying to steal bits of old rope, ancient granola bars, and flyers. That’s basically all that’s in those caches. It’s just to keep the bears from fucking with them.” Eventually he came across the box Geoff had mentioned. He unlocked it and took his promised rope before continuing on his way. He was hoping he wouldn’t have to use it. Rappelling didn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, especially when he was still hurting from his two day hike. Luck was not on his side, however, as his path took him to sheer cliff face. There was a rock above it with rope tightly looped around it and a carabiner attached to the rope. He attached the rope to the carabiner and carefully began his descent.

It was slow going. He had never done this before and his feet kept slipping on the loose stone. The rope wasn’t in the best condition and he was afraid it was going to give under his weight. This turned out to be a valid concern. About halfway down, the rope snapped and Ryan swore his heart and stomach stayed in place while the rest of him plummeted the ten feet to the ground. He cried out in pain as he smacked into packed earth and stone. His head bounced off the ground and a sharp rock tore through his shirt and sliced a shallow cut into his side. He laid there, dizzy and groaning for a few moments while he got his bearings. He lifted the radio to his mouth.

“Rope snapped on me.” Ryan pushed himself into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head.

“Shit! You okay? Anything broken?”

“I’m fine, I think. Just a bit dizzy.” Ryan stood slowly. The world spun for a moment and it felt like he was going to be sick, but it didn’t last long.

“Well, be fucking careful, dude! I’ll tell Jack to get some newer, more sturdy rope out to one of your caches. Until then, try to avoid taking any more falls.”

“I’ll do my best,” Ryan said as he headed off again. It was a while before he came across evidence of other people, but the fireworks were still going, acting as a guide. Ryan looked down at the ground when his foot hit something, sending it skittering across the ground with metallic tinging and scraping. Beer cans. They were scattered everywhere. He regarded them with distaste, picking one up. Great, just what this situation needed: impaired decision-making skills. Ryan continued along the trail, finding more beer cans. He picked them up along the way, feeling it a shame to leave litter lying everywhere. He paused when he caught sight of a fallen tree that was laid across two high rocks, bridging the space between them and hanging above the path. Something was dangling from the log, and with no small amount of embarrassment, he realized it was a bra.

“Whoever it is out here, she’s naked,” Ryan said into the radio, wrinkling his nose as he came across a pair of panties.

“Woah, score, man. Take some pictures for me.” Ryan snorted.

“Pervert.”

“What? You don’t like naked ladies, Ryan?” Ryan huffed and wondered not for the first time how he ended up in such a ridiculous conversation.

“I never said I didn't.” Ryan could hear rather loud music playing now. Looking at his map, he saw that he should be right around Jonesy lake.

“You didn’t say you did, either.” Ryan frowned slightly.

“Sorry, should I go around announcing my sexual preferences whenever the topic of naked people comes up?”

“And those preferences would be…?” Geoff prompted and Ryan was tempted to drown himself once he found this lake.

“You’re quite the nosy parker.” Geoff laughed.

“I didn’t know you were a sixty year old woman, Ryan. ‘Nosy parker.’” Ryan flushed slightly. He liked to try to sound well-educated, but sometimes that caused him to come off as old-fashioned.

“I’m going to stop speaking to you now.” Ryan rounded a corner in the trail, around some rocks, and the lake came into view, as well as a group of four very drunk teenagers. They were all skinny-dipping in the lake. Two boys and two girls. One pair was making out in the shallows and, upon seeing Ryan, they yelped and quickly made their way further into the water before Ryan could say a word. Their phones were sitting on a nearby boulder, one of them was tethered to a speaker, the source of the ear-splitting music.

“No, wait, don’t go, Ryan.”

“Shhh, Geoff. I found the culprits behind the fireworks.” Or at least, he was pretty sure it was them, even though they weren’t setting off fireworks now. Either way, they definitely were doing something wrong, drinking in a national forest _and_ being underage.

“Don’t you mean the ne’er-do-wells, Granny?”

 _“Goodbye,_ Geoff.” Ryan pocketed his radio. “Hey!” he called out to the teenagers. “You can’t be drinking nor setting off fireworks out here!” He raised his voice both so they could hear him way out in the lake, and so he could be heard over their blaring music.

“Whatever, pervert! _You_ can’t be spying on naked girls!” yelled one of the girls. Ryan sighed deeply.

“Or naked men, faggot!” one of the guys called and Ryan fought down the bile that rose in his throat at the slur. It wasn’t the first time it had been thrown at him. Images of the last time flashed through Ryan’s mind and anger burned low in Ryan’s gut. Suddenly seething, he yanked the plug out of the phone hooked up to the speaker and the volume drastically lowered, now coming out of only the phone speakers. “Hey, don’t fucking touch that, asshole!”

“How about you stop trying to burn the fucking forest down or I toss your shit into the lake?!” Ryan knew he shouldn’t be threatening them. He could get in huge trouble for doing so, he was sure, but he sometimes had trouble controlling his temper, and now his control was fast crumbling away.

“Alright, man, Jesus!” said one of the teenagers. Ryan could hear the static hiss that always preceded Geoff’s voice. Ryan sighed and tugged it out of his pocket.

“Please don’t toss anyone’s personal property into the lake, Mr. Haywood.” Ryan was caught off guard. That wasn’t Geoff’s voice, and whoever’s voice it was could obviously hear him. He felt the beginnings of shame creep into him, already regretting his outburst.

“I wasn’t actually going to… who is this?”

“This is Jack Pattillo. I’m across the lake. Can you see me?” Ryan peered across the lake and he could just make out a man waving his arm. The only details Ryan could see from here was that the other man was pale, a bit large, and his hair was on the lighter side.

“Yeah. You’re the one in Moss Peak tower, right?”

“That’s right. I think I can handle this situation from here. Why don’t you do a sweep for any remaining fireworks and alcohol and confiscate it? Try to cool down.” Ryan bit his lip, definitely feeling guilty now. Ryan felt a lot more like he was talking to his boss now than he did when he was speaking to Geoff. How did Geoff managed to get that position over Jack, he had to wonder.

“Sorry, sir. I’ll try not to lose my temper in the future,” Ryan said, automatically assuming the role of “scolded employee.” Jack chuckled over the radio and Ryan felt a little less tense.

“Just Jack. And it’s fine, Mr. Haywood. I heard what they called you. A lot of people would have gotten upset.” Ryan frowned, not wanting Jack to know he was… the type of person who would get upset at being called that particular word. He turned to begin searching for contraband, trying to keep his mind off of it.

“Yeah. And it’s just Ryan. For me.”

“Understood, Ryan. Be safe on the hike back. A storm’s rolling in.”

“Copy that.” He had to admit, he had wanted to say that ever since he had first started using the radio. During his search, Ryan found a lot more empty beer cans, a smouldering campfire (okay, were these guys _actually_ trying to burn down the forest?), some more fireworks, and what looked like an expensive bottle of whiskey. “These guys brought an entire liquor store with them,” Ryan said on Geoff’s frequency.

“Anything good?” Ryan looked down at the bottle of liquor in his hand, and at the multiple beer cans.

“I wouldn’t really know. There’s some fancy looking whiskey.”

“Not a drinker?”

“Not really. I don’t think I’ve had anything to drink since high school.” Just the memories of the shitty piss beer served during high school parties was enough to put anyone off the drink, in Ryan’s opinion.

“Oh, so you won’t mind dropping that whiskey off in my supply box, then?”

“I can’t even get to your supply box. Besides, we’re not supposed to have alcohol out here.” With all the contraband, Ryan was weighed down, and he was having trouble hauling himself over the rocks in the canyon path that led back to his tower. He stopped to catch his breath, but an ominous rumble of thunder had him scurrying along.

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly a stickler for the rules.” Ryan rolled his eyes. He could definitely tell that much. Something occurred to him suddenly.

“Aren’t you an alcoholic?” That’s what Geoff had said, anyway. “Shouldn’t you be not drinking, anyway?”

“I never said I was a _recovering_ alcoholic. In any case, I’m not actually an alcoholic, I don’t think. I just really like drinking.” Ryan decided it was best not to respond to that. “Actually, I have a bit of a confession to make.”

“Yeah?” Ryan grunted as he pulled himself up onto a ledge.

“I was drunk last night. That’s why I was kind of an ass to you.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your excuse now?” Ryan grumbled, though there was little venom in it. Geoff laughed, and it was funny, really, that he would press down the button just so Ryan could hear him laughing, but despite himself, Ryan found himself appreciating it. Geoff had a good laugh; infectious.

“I might be a bit drunk right now, too.” Ryan huffed out a laugh.

“Question.”

“Yes?”

“Are you ever not drunk?” There was a pause, in which the sky lit up and thunder sounded a few seconds later. Ryan hoped Jack was headed back by now as well. He didn’t really know the other man, but he wouldn’t want anyone caught in this storm. Except for maybe those fucking teenagers. Which, actually, it was likely they’d just be in a tent out here. Those assholes were screwed.

“Well, sometimes I drink all of my alcohol, and then I don’t have any left to get drunk with, but Gavvers usually drops more off in my supply box.”

“Who?”

“Gavin, out in Chimney Rock. He’s our resident lovable but annoying as fuck Brit. He also seems to have an endless supply of what he calls ‘bevs.’” Ryan pondered that for a moment, wondering how someone from the UK ended up in Wyoming, working a job like this.

“How can someone be lovable _and_ annoying as fuck?” He couldn’t help but ask as he hurried his way down the path as the first raindrops of the storm splashed against the ground. Fuck. If these rocks got wet, he’d be screwed, climbing-wise.

“Trust me. Once you talk to him, you’ll understand.” Geoff suddenly affected a high pitched voice, doing a terrible imitation of a British accent. “Oh, Geoff, I saw a squirrel. It was absolutely tippy toppers! Geoff, let’s drink bevs and suck each other’s penises.” Geoff’s incredible crudeness was rather ill-timed with Ryan walking through a patch of loose pebbles and Ryan nearly slipped and fell on his ass in his surprise.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and assume he never said that last thing to you.” Ryan could see his tower coming into view now. Despite clambering over a few ledges, he was still pretty deep in the canyon.

“Maybe,” Geoff said cryptically. Ryan pressed down the button to respond, but a bright light suddenly filled his vision, momentarily blinding him.

“Ah, fuck!” he yelped, shocked. Squinting his eyes against the light, he could make out a figure high on the cliffs above him.

“What?! What happened?!” Geoff sounded almost as startled as him. “What’s going on, Ryan?!” Geoff pressed when Ryan didn’t immediately respond. He was too busy watching the silhouette stare at him for a moment before turning and running. “I’m going to call in the cavalry if you don’t fucking respond right now.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Ryan said. He was still breathing heavily. “Just some guy. Startled me, was all.”

“Jesus, dude. That’s all? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry,” Ryan mumbled. He frowned at the “path” between him and his tower. It went straight up, with little ledges providing a way to climb to the top. “Looks like I have to do some rock climbing, so I’m going to go silent for a bit.” Ryan pocketed his radio and gripped his first handhold. Luckily, it wasn’t too wet yet.

“Be careful, buddy,” came Geoff’s reply, muffled by the material of his jeans. Ryan hoisted himself up, planting his feet on the lower ridges. He was already a bit tired from having to walk so far, still hurting from his fall from before, and his heart hadn’t stopped pounding from his earlier fright, so it was slow going. It took him a good twenty minutes, but eventually he pulled himself onto flat ground. He laid there in the dirt, panting, until he could get enough energy to stand. He was going to sleep well tonight. Again. Maybe this job had more benefits than just leaving his past behind. He was making up for all the sleep he had lost this last year. He made his way to his tower and froze. There, at the bottom of the steps, was his thermos. His mouth felt dry as he bent to pick it up. He pulled his radio out.

“Uh,” he said a bit weakly. All he could manage at the moment.

“Yes…?” Geoff prompted.

“I think there might be someone in my tower, or at least, there was someone in my tower.”

“What makes you think that?” Geoff asked, a note of concern in his voice.

“Because stuff I left inside the tower is now outside the tower.” Geoff cursed.

“Hold on, let me see if I can see anyone inside your place before you go up there.”

“Okay,” Ryan said, a bit numbly.

“Did you leave the lights on?”

“No.”

“Sonuvabitch. I wasn’t paying attention to your tower while you were out. Well, it looks all clear from here, but whoever was fucking around over there might just be hiding out of my sight, so be fucking careful, okay?” Ryan’s heart was slamming in his chest. He put his thermos in his backpack, and picked up a cinder block from a pile of them near one of the support posts for his tower. He began ascending the steps. He couldn’t hear anything, but like Geoff said, whoever it was could be hiding. He reached the balcony and cursed.

“Someone broke in, alright. My window’s smashed, and everything inside my tower’s been tossed about. _Motherfucker.”_ It looked like a tornado hit it. Chairs upended, everything he owned strewn everywhere, books torn apart.

“Jesus, Ryan.” Ryan’s door was hanging off its hinges and he pushed past it. “Hold on, I’m going to call this in. Any ideas on who might’ve done this?” Ryan bit his lip, thinking.

“Those teenagers, maybe? But I don’t know how they would know where my tower is.” Ryan rubbed his face, feeling exhausted. “Maybe that guy I saw, the one that scared me? He was close to my tower, but I don’t know why he’d wreck the place.” Ryan resigned himself to cleaning up, starting by sweeping broken glass into his trash can.

“Alright, I’ll pass that along. Be back in a moment.” Ryan wasn’t sure if he wanted Geoff to come back or not. On one hand, some company might help him feel a little less alone, a little less in danger. On the other hand, he just wanted to stop thinking, just collapse into his now sheet and pillow-free bed and forget the world for a few hours. “Back. You doing okay, man?”

“Just great,” Ryan said, trying for sarcasm and ending up just sounding tired and bitter.

“Don’t worry. All the rangers and the other watchers have been informed of situation and are keeping an eye out.” Ryan sighed, stuffing pages back into books.

“Won’t help me if whoever did this is still creeping around outside my tower.”

“I’ll keep an eye on your tower, tonight, Ryan. I’ll yell into the radio if anyone is about to chop your head off.” Ryan snorted.

“You won’t be able to see anything over here when I turn my lights off,” he pointed out.

“Leave them on for tonight.” Ryan debated insisting that he could look after himself, but he was feeling rattled by all of this. It was nice to know someone else would be looking out for him. He pulled his shirt off and spread it out on the bed in an approximation of sheets. “Oooh, baby, you gonna do a strip tease for me?” Geoff practically purred. Ryan turned red.

“It’s a little creepy that you’re watching me undress. I could probably file a sexual harassment complaint.”

“You could, but you won’t. Just in case, though, why don’t you even the score by scoping out my tower with your spyglass?” Ryan doubted he could find the spyglass in the mess his tower was in now, and on top of that, he was feeling completely drained. However, he had to admit, he was curious to see what the man he had been talking to all this time looked like. So he did a quick search of his room, found the spyglass in a corner with his radio charger, and picked both of them up. He put the charger on his desk and extended the spyglass. Putting it up to his eye, he pointed it towards Geoff’s tower. After taking a moment to adjust to the change in view, he spotted what he assumed was Geoff. Despite the spyglass, he couldn’t really make out many details. Geoff was just a tiny figure standing in his window, presumably looking at Ryan as Ryan looked at him. Ryan could make out that he had dark hair, and there was something covering his arms and chest. He also seemed to be clad only in boxers, which was a bit embarrassing. “Like what you see?” Ryan couldn’t quite tell if Geoff was just trying to fluster him or was honestly flirting with him. Neither were exactly desirable.

“What’s all over your arms and chest?”

“Tattoos.” Once again, Geoff’s level of professionalism never failed to astound Ryan.

“And here I thought you had been rolling in mud.” The little figure in his spyglass raised its arm. “What are you doing?”

“Flipping you off.” Ryan snorted in amusement.

“You sure are a classy one.”

“Whatever. Get some sleep, cupcake.” Ryan rolled his eyes but crawled into bed. “Atta boy,” Geoff praised. Ryan raised his hand and flipped Geoff off. He closed his eyes, listening to Geoff laugh. When Geoff went quiet, everything felt much too silent. He was getting far too used to the other man’s voice. He jumped when his radio hissed with static once more.

“Ryan? This is Jack. Geoff told me what happened. You okay?” Ryan pulled himself out of his doze so he could press down the radio button.

“‘M fine. Thanks for asking. Just trying to get some sleep now.”

“Alright, try to have a good rest of the night, then, Ryan. Don’t worry too much. I’m sure everything will be fine.” Ryan hummed an affirmative into the radio, already drifting off once more.

That night his nightmares came back with a vengeance. More than once, Ryan woke with the image of a man dead burned into his mind’s eye. He would sit up, rubbing his chest as he tried to control his breathing. A couple of times, Geoff asked if he was okay, but Ryan didn’t answer. He was used to the nightmares, at this point, but he didn’t really want to discuss them.

  


****

##  **⤞Day 2⤝**

  


Eventually, Ryan was woken not by his nightmares but by the sound of cursing. “Son of a bitch. Wake the fuck _up,_ god damn it!” He didn’t recognize the voice. Ryan tensed and reached over the side of his bed to grab the cinderblock he put there the night before. Once he grabbed it, he shot up, raising it high above his head, ready to bring it crashing down on whoever his intruder was. There was no one, and Ryan realized with slight embarrassment that someone was just calling him on the radio. He picked it up, having fallen asleep with it next to his head. He hoped it had enough charge for two days.

“Who is this?”

“Oh, fuck, sleeping beauty is up, alert the god damned media.” Ryan felt a twinge of annoyance, mostly brought on by the rude awakening after a dreadful night’s sleep.

“Who _is _this?” he repeated, a little less polite.__

____

“The motherfucking tooth fairy, asshole. I’m another watcher, who else would I be?” Ryan was beginning to think Jack was the only professional in the entire business.

____

“What’s your _name?_ And what do you want?”

____

“Michael. And I want you to make sure we’re not all fucking stranded out here like we’re in some god damned slasher movie. Geoff says that storm last night knocked down a phone line, which means we can’t contact civilization. He wants you to go to…” There was a rustling sound, like paper. “Beartooth Point. He said the very tippy top is where the phone line in your sector ends. He’s out checking his sector right now, which is why I’m talking to you.” Ryan groaned. Couldn’t they catch a break? First stupid teens, then his tower gets wrecked, and now this. Looking at his map, he could see that it was going to be a long walk. And he didn’t like the sound of “tippy-top.” That implied a lot of climbing. He grabbed his pack and snatched up one of his baseball caps to shove on his head. Despite the fact that it didn’t get as hot here as it did in Georgia, he was still getting sunburned, and the cap would at least keep the sun off his face.

____

“Alright, I’m headed out now.” Ryan said into his radio.

____

“Great. Don’t get eaten by a fucking bear or whatever,” was Michael’s helpful reply. Ryan sighed and began the long trek. “Jack says he dropped off a bunch of rope in your nearest cache last night, so make sure to pick that shit up before you go on your epic journey, or whatever.” Ryan turned and looped around to his cache box, picking up the rope, before continuing on to Beartooth Point.

____

“What do I do if the line is down in my sector?”

____

“Well, Geoff says it’s probably just a branch on the line or something, so if you can remove it without snapping the wire, then go for it, I say.” Ryan gave an affirmative response. There was a little more going down than he expected on this hike. In fact, there was a lot more, as he ended up dropping down a high ledge, without considering the fact that he’d have no way to get back, though he was sure there was a way around. Still, the direction up was not to be outdone, and he was soon feeling incredibly winded as he followed his telephone line all the way up a steep hill, and then up a large rock formation that jutted out of the Earth like a giant tooth. His heart sunk when he finally crested the rock and saw the wire, snapped and swaying lightly in the breeze, but that was nothing compared to what was lying on the rock next to the pole. His blood ran cold when he caught sight of it. “Go to hell, asshole,” was scrawled over a pair of white panties and taped to the rock, next to an empty can of the same beer those teens had been drinking. It was clear who left this message. He had a very bad feeling about this. He picked up the end of wire and sure enough, it was cut clean through, rather than roughly snapped.

____

“Geoff…” Ryan said softly into Geoff’s line. The answer was immediate.

____

“What’s up, buddy? You find where it’s down?”

____

“I sure did. _Fuck._ Those fucking teens cut it. They left a message.” There was silence while Ryan assumed Geoff processed this information.

____

“Mother _FUCKER!”_ Geoff shouted so loud Ryan jumped. “Those fucking cunts! This is how people _die._ This is fucked up as _dicks._ What if something had happened to one of you guys, or if there was a fire? What if something happens before this gets fixed? I won’t be able to call it in.” Ryan had never heard Geoff sound so distressed before. Granted, he had only known him for about two days, but Geoff normally sounded so lazy and carefree, it was a little shocking to hear him so riled up. “You have to find them, Ryan.” Ryan furrowed his eyebrows.

____

“And do what?”

____

“Scare the everloving shit out of them! Run them out of my fucking forest before they get someone killed!” Ryan snorted and slid his way down Beartooth Point. Given his recent troubles with the law, and the events of last year, normally he’d be hesitant to do anything illegal, but he was pissed off and well, anyone who knew him would say scaring people was something of a speciality of his. Though, nowadays, there was something more accusing in it when they said it.

____

“Roger that,” Ryan said, voice even deeper than usual, and completely flat. “I’m something of an expert at this.” It was easy to slip back into that old role, even if he hadn’t used it in a while.

____

“...Creepy. Hold on for a second, I’m going to ask Michael if he wants to help.” The line went silent for a good few minutes while Ryan made his descent down the hill. Tracking the teenagers was pretty easy, since they left a trail of empty beer cans. It was a little odd, actually. Just how much could four teenagers drink? They must have been drinking a can every minute. Something wasn’t sitting right with Ryan, but before he could dwell on it much, Geoff was back. “Alright. Michael is down to fuck with these guys. He’s going to meet you at the old research station in Wapiti meadow.” Ryan stuffed yet another empty can in his pack to throw away later.

____

“The what?”

____

“There used to be a building out there that some scientists were using to track elk and study the soil. It’s just a burned out husk, now. Some nutter burned it down about thirty years ago.” Ryan took out his map and let out a huff. Naturally, it was all the way on the other side of his sector.

____

“Alright, I’m on my way.”

____

“Tell him that. I have to go try and contact the nearest ranger so he can have someone come out and fix that wire. Good luck, Ryan.” Ryan flicked the frequency on his radio to Michael’s channel.

____

“I’m headed out to you, Michael.”

____

“Alright! Let’s kick these little bitches’ asses!” Ryan couldn’t help but feel a bit worried by that response.

____

“I’m pretty sure Geoff just wants us to scare them, not assault them.”

____

“Whatever,” Michael said, sounding much less enthused now. “Let’s just make sure these dickholes stop fucking with us.” Ryan could agree with that much. Continuing on, he eventually found himself at another drop, and sent a silent thanks to Jack for hooking him up with more rope. Hopefully, these ones wouldn’t snap. He hooked up a length of rope and headed down the drop. He went a little quicker than before, wanting to be on solid ground as soon as possible after last time, but he needn’t worry. The rope held strong the entire way. “You almost here, dude?”

____

“I think so. I’m at the edge of the meadow.”

____

“Alright, there’s like a big fucking hill between you and me, so just, like, stand at the top of the hill and I’ll come up to you.” Ryan came to the crest of the hill Michael was talking about. Below him, he could see the old research station, as well as what looked like a radio tower. They were both burned to shit, but the ground surrounding it was flush with life. It was obvious the fire happened quite a while ago. He could see a man scrambling up the hill path, having to get on his hands and knees for some steeper parts. Eventually he was close enough to Ryan for him to be able to make out details. He was surprisingly young, though Ryan suspected the other’s round, boyish face made him look younger than he was. Ryan was able to make out freckles and red, curly hair poking out from under the man’s beanie. The man, Michael, presumably, threw himself down besides Ryan’s feet and let out a long, rather indecent moan. “Fuuuuuuuuuck.” He stretched. “That hike is a god damned killer.”

____

“Michael, I’m guessing?” The other snorted.

____

“No. The goddamned tooth fairy.”

____

“You keep saying that, and I’m going to eventually believe you.”

____

“I’ll sneak into your tower at night and stick my dick under your pillow.” Ryan arched an eyebrow. This kid sure had a mouth on him.

____

“Lovely image, there.” Michael grinned up at him.

____

“Alright, help me up and let’s go scare the piss out of some dumb teens.” Ryan held out his hand and hauled Michael up. Michael dusted himself off.

____

“Which way?” The beer cans had stopped a while ago. Michael frowned and looked around as if expecting to see the teenagers behind the nearest tree. Then he pointed towards the sky. At first, Ryan didn’t see it, then he noticed the thin plume of smoke rising in the sky. No doubt the source was the teens’ campfire. They headed off towards it together.

____

“Can I ask you something?” Ryan said after a good half mile of silence.

____

“Shoot,” Michael said, though Ryan thought he sounded a little hesitant.

____

“What’s someone as young as you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be partying it up during summer break from college or something right about now?” Michael scowled and looked away from Ryan and Ryan instantly knew he had fucked up. How was this any different from Geoff asking Ryan what he was running from?

____

“Ray and Gavin are even younger than me. We all have our reasons for being out here. I’m not gonna fucking get into it.” Ryan frowned, berating himself internally.

____

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have pried.”

____

“It’s whatever, dude.” Slightly awkward silence fell around them. It didn’t break until they came across a bright, orange scrap of fabric, caught in the branches of a tree. “Weird,” Michael said, tugging it down. “It’s not super dirty or anything so it hasn’t been here very long. I guess we’re getting close.” Ryan spotted an empty beer can a few feet away.

____

“We’re definitely getting close,” Ryan said, scooping it up once they were close enough.

____

“At least they have decent taste in booze.” Ryan wrinkled his nose.

____

“Beer is disgusting.” Michael laughed.

____

“Fucking baby. You gotta brave the taste for the buzz.”

____

“Is the buzz that worth it? I’ve never really been drunk before.” Michael stared at Ryan, wide-eyed, and nearly walked into a tree. Ryan gripped his shoulder to keep him from introducing his face to solid wood.

____

“Are you fucking shitting me, dude? You have absolutely got to get smashed with us one of these nights.” Ryan raised his eyebrows.

____

“Us?”

____

“You know, the other lookouts. We get drunk over the group channel regularly. It’s a blast. Though I guess you can join Ray in sobriety if you really object to drinking.” Ryan had forgotten about the group channel. He figured he should try it out some time soon. Though if it was just going to be his drunk coworkers giggling at each other, it probably wouldn’t be anything special. At least there was one other non-drinker in the group. The climbed a small hill and immediately spied an orange tent a little way in the distance. “Score. Dude, we need like war paint or something.” Ryan snorted but Michael bent down and scooped up some red clay that was abundant in the area. He put three strips of it under each eye. “Your turn.” Ryan rolled his eyes but at Michael’s expectant gaze, he knelt and gathered some clay. After a moment of thought, he dragged his fingers over his lips, and smeared the clay over his eyelids and nose in an approximation of a skull. He gave Michael a sinister smirk. Michael actually looked stricken.

____

“Think it’ll scare ‘em?”

____

“Dude, it kind of scares _me_. You can be a freaky dude when you want to be, huh?” Ryan shrugged. Back in his hometown, it had been something of a running joke that he was frightening, with a disturbing sense of humor. He often played the scary potential sociopath for laughs. He had thought it just a charade he kept up because it amused people. Then, last year, it all became too real, and Ryan had to wonder if there had been more to it than just something to make people laugh. That maybe he really was the monster people made him out to be. After all, he was playing up this “dark side” now, and it was hardly a joke. He honestly wanted to scare these teens, maybe even do something _more._ He tried not to dwell on it too much as he and Michael crept closer. The campsite was a mess. Ryan then realized, with a sinking heart, it wasn’t just _messy_ , it was torn to shreds. As they got closer to the tent, they saw the entire front of it was torn away, clothes lay strewn on the ground, ripped to pieces.

____

“Holy hell,” Ryan murmured.

____

“Son of a fucking bitch,” Michael said, voice softer than usual, as he took in the wreckage of the campsite. Ryan saw a note taped to the ruined tent. He pointed it out to Michael and Michael took it. “Dear Psycho,” he read out loud and Ryan suddenly had a very terrible feeling. “I hope you’re fucking happy. We’re leaving and we’re going to find the police and tell them how you creeped on us at the lake, and then came and destroyed our campsite and all of our stuff. You’re probably a mental fucking axe murderer. You’re totally going to go to jail for this. I hope it was worth being a jerk over some fucking fireworks. Dick.” Michael looked up at Ryan, confusion written on his features. Ryan realized he probably had no idea what the note was referring to, seeing as he wasn’t privy to the events of yesterday, but Ryan couldn’t bring himself to explain at the moment. The world was spinning and he was breathing too fast. He had to lean against a tree. Jail. He was going to jail _again._ He didn’t even do anything this time, but with his record, the police would believe the teenagers over him. Shit. _Shit._ “Ryan?” Ryan registered the sound of alarm in Michael’s voice, and he was aware he probably looked a bit crazy, hyperventilating and swaying on his feet.

____

“They think it was _me,”_ Ryan managed to gasp out. “They think _I_ did this.” Dimly, he registered he that he had been planning on doing this anyway, or at least had really wanted to, and didn’t that make him just as fucking guilty?

____

“Did you?” Michael’s question had Ryan’s heart clenching. There it was again. The accusations, the suspicion. It was happening all over again. He didn’t bother answering. It never helped. “Stupid question. You’re obviously freaking out. Look, it was probably a fucking bear.”

____

“I don’t think the police will believe that.” Or anything he said, for that matter.

____

“Dude, that’s why you’re flipping your shit? Don’t worry about it. The police aren’t going to listen to a bunch of idiot teenagers.”

____

“It’ll be my word against theirs.”

____

“It’ll be _our_ word against theirs. We’re not going to just throw you under the bus, dude. We’ll all have your back.” Ryan fought to get his breathing back under control. “So you don’t have to panic. Everything’s going to be fine.” Michael sounded a little awkward, and Ryan wondered if it was because he wasn’t used to comforting people, or because he was uncomfortable with trying to talk down someone who was basically a stranger from a panic attack. Ryan was able to calm himself enough to stand without the aid of the tree. He caught Michael’s eye and he could see the unspoken question there. _’Why? Why panic over something this small?’_ He desperately didn’t want Michael to know the reason. Ryan fought to compose himself.

____

“I’m fine,” he said stiffly. “This just… took me by surprise.” Michael frowned slightly and Ryan silently begged him to just let it go. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when Michael nodded.

____

“Yeah. We should probably head back to our towers now.” Ryan nodded. He turned and headed down the river path back to his tower, not looking back, his head spinning.

____

When he got back, it was still light out. He put his radio on its charger and threw himself into bed. He doubted he’d sleep tonight, but he didn’t feel like doing much else, either. He winced when his radio hissed to life.

____

“Ryan? Michael told me what happened. Sounds like this situation just got messy as dicks, dude.” Ryan considered answering, but the thought made his stomach churn uncomfortably. “Don’t worry about the cops, man. I’ll deal with them. Nothing’s going to happen to you.” Easy for Geoff to say. He didn’t know about Ryan’s record. Thank fuck the application to this job was so god damned simple. He had never been asked for prior arrests. “Come on, Ryan. Pick up. I know you’re awake. I just watched you walk in.” Again, Ryan briefly thought about responding, but he just couldn’t bring himself, too. “Alright. I get it. Bad day. I’ll give you your space. Good night, Ryan.” Ryan felt some relief, but as the hours slipped by, he realized sleep wasn’t coming. He kept mulling over all the possible scenarios, most of which ended with him being in jail for life, which, granted, probably wasn’t realistic, but logic never factored into anxiety.

____

Frustrated, he pulled himself out of bed and went to his desk. He didn’t know how late it was, but Geoff was obviously still awake. Either that, or he fell asleep with his tower’s lights on. Ryan wouldn’t risk turning on his own lights and alerting Geoff to the fact that he was awake. He didn’t want Geoff to attempt another conversation with him. Out of boredom, he picked up his radio, fiddling with it. Mostly out of curiosity, he pressed down the green button, connecting him to the group channel. He jumped and fumbled the radio when voices sounded out. It clattered to the floor.

____

“Like I said, man, he just fucking freaked,” Michael’s voice said. Ryan froze halfway through picking up the radio. “Like breathing all fast and shit. He said he didn’t think the cops would believe it was a bear.”

____

“Anyone would be worried about the situation,” Jack said.

____

“It’s just weird as dicks, man. It just some damaged property. It’s not like he’s going to get thrown in jail for that,” said Geoff, and Ryan’s heart was hammering. Should he interrupt them? Let them know he could hear them?

____

“Maybe he doesn’t know that,” Jack reasoned.

____

“Or maybe he’s got priors and is on probation or some fucking thing.” God _no._ That was _way_ too close to the truth. Ryan’s hands shook as they finally closed around the radio. “I’m telling you, he went a bit fucking scary there for a minute. Did his face up all like a skull,” Michael said.

____

“He _did_ say he was an expert at freaking people out,” was Geoff’s reply.

____

“He’s probably a hardened criminal or something. He’s probably _killed_ people.” Ryan had heard enough. He switched off the radio, feeling bile rise in his throat. He was such an idiot. He could leave Georgia behind, but the problem wasn’t with Georgia, the problem was with _him._ He could never leave his sins behind, and people could see right fucking through him. He went back to bed, pressing his face into his pillow. He could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, humiliating and hot. He bit them back, feeling a heavy lump in his throat. Tomorrow, he resolved to keep to himself more than ever. It was just better that way, for all involved.

____


End file.
